Business News Holding

Category: smartphone

  • Apple and HTC agree on patents for the next 10 years

    No more patent cases between Apple and HTC in the near future, since the two companies have reached on a 10-year license "global settlement" for the current, but also their future patent cases. This settlement is related to any possible case between the two companies that has to do with intellectual property.

    The announcement came with a joint press release, proving that the patent wars between Apple and HTC are now over. Although the agreement is confidential and we do not know any details of it, we do know that it came as a surprise, since there were no reports on the two companies discussing a settlement. Delaware court might have suggested they consider reaching an agreement back in May, but they did not seem reluctant back then for such a move. On the contrary, HTC was claiming that they are not planning any settlement with Apple.
    As it seems, things have changed in the last months and we are now discussing their settlement.
    Peter Chou, chief executive of HTC stated:

    "HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation."

    What's more, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, said:

    "We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC. We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation."

    There were many battles between them and it must be a relief for Apple to get a patent opponent out of their way. 2012 has been the year of the patent wars and although the battle between Apple and HTC was not the biggest one, it is still important that they have reached on an agreement. Who knows, maybe we will see Apple reaching an agreement with Samsung in the future. Or maybe not!

  • Telecom Service Providers Waking Up to Global Wi-Fi Roaming

    15 disruptive service providers around the world with nearly a billion mobile subscribers have partnered with the largest global Wi-Fi roaming network, iPass.

    iPass chief executive officer Evan Kaplan reporting on the state of Wi-Fi in the telecom operator industry said: “Mobile carriers are waking up to the power of global Wi-Fi roaming and the competitive advantage it offers. While Wi-Fi is in its early years, 15 telecom service providers worldwide are pioneering its growth and the signs are incredibly encouraging for explosive growth in this market.”

    Even though the public discussion on mobile operator Wi-Fi has previously centered on cost-savings offered by domestic mobile data offload, global Wi-Fi roaming has the ability to generate revenue. iPass has a unique vantage point in the telecom industry and the ability for service providers to deliver both consumers and the enterprise global Wi-Fi roaming connectivity is set to be an inherent part of their subscriber features in the future.

    “The 15 service providers that have signed up to offer global Wi-roaming have a combined mobile subscriber base of 974 million people worldwide. With high-value customers demanding Wi-Fi roaming, these service providers are seizing the initiative to provide the benefits of a global Wi-Fi network,” said Kaplan.

    With the increasing number of international business travelers using multiple mobile devices – including non-SIM devices – to data roam, various service providers are looking at Wi-Fi to serve the needs of these high-value customers. “Mobile is everything; it has changed how people communicate and work. Wi-Fi is global in nature and these service providers recognize that they are in a highly competitive industry. Providing convenient and cost effective connectivity options all around the globe for their high-value customers is going to be the next big differentiator,” said Kaplan. “We’re breaking a religious barrier by enabling carriers to bundle services to support the needs of their customers who carry both SIM and non-SIM devices that are Wi-Fi enabled.”

    A recent industry report from Juniper Research indicated revenues generated from mobile roaming will hit more than $80 billion by 2017. “There is an increasing opportunity for telecom operators to enhance their roaming revenues and profit margins via Wi-Fi networks,” said report author Nitin Bhas. “These revenues will largely be driven by increasing data usage and mobile operators are looking at global Wi-Fi as a way to protect their post-paid, high-value customers that are demanding Wi-Fi, especially when they travel overseas.”

    With 1,137,695 Wi-Fi hotspots in 113 countries and territories worldwide, iPass has nearly doubled the number of hotspots in its Wi-Fi network since the beginning of 2012 and expects its network to hit two million Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of 2013. “We are building the largest Wi-Fi ecosystem in the world and operators in Asia and the Middle East are taking an early lead in shaping how people roam today and in the future,” said Steve Livingston, iPass senior vice president of carrier development.

    Both Zain and Etisalat in the Middle East and China Telecom and China Mobile are using the iPass Open Mobile Exchange as a foundation for their global Wi-Fi data roaming service; along with SK Telecom in South Korea, dtac in Thailand and KDDI in Japan there is a surging Wi-Fi expansion throughout Asia. Additionally, Oi, South America’s largest mobile operator has joined the exchange and is building the largest Wi-Fi network in Brazil. With a nexus of forces driven by cloud computing and mobility causing an ever-increasing need for global Wi-Fi, iPass is starting to see carriers thinking of Wi-Fi roaming as an inherent part of their mobility services that subscribers will expect as a feature rather than an add-on service.

    Wi-Fi standards such as the Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) from the Wireless Broadband Alliance and the Wi-Fi certified Passpoint program from the Wi-Fi Alliance are a welcome evolution according to iPass. “NGH and Passpoint are critical to remove the friction inherent in the seamless mobile connection process today as it will improve the user experience,” said Livingston. “iPass is helping lead these discussions on defining and driving the future of Wi-Fi and these initiatives speak to the core value proposition of iPass. The network that iPass has built enables operators to bridge the gap from today’s Wi-Fi into the future and beyond.”

    As Wi-Fi standards continue to progress and improve the user’s experience, iPass is strongly positioned both today and in the future. The company’s global Wi-Fi presence is unsurpassed and their technical integration and expertise over the last 12 years with more than 140 global Wi-Fi networks provides iPass a significant advantage, especially as Wi-Fi uses a different infrastructure to cellular networks.

    “Consumers are very sensitive about expensive data roaming charges but with Wi-Fi people are used to daily, flat-rate or time based billing versus consumption usage,” said Kaplan. “As both mobile and fixed-line operators now have an opportunity to get into the global Wi-Fi roaming business, iPass is there to help operators derive greater wallet share from mobile customers. Whether it’s a smartphone or a non-SIM device, they can use our Wi-Fi network virtually wherever they are in the world.”

    An early pioneer in the creation of the global broadband roaming market, iPass delivered the industry’s first broadband roaming service that gave business travelers simplified, high-speed and secure remote access to their corporate networks. iPass is a board member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance and co-author of the WISPr 1.0 protocol, a standard that defines how smart clients can access Wi-Fi networks.

  • Samsung Galaxy Note II reaches 3 million sales

    Samsung Galaxy Note II has already been a successful smartphone, since it has already sold 3 million units in just a month from its release. In fact, Samsung announced that it took Galaxy Note II just 37 days to reach the 3 million milestone, which is obviously a success for the brand. However, Apple's fans might say that iPhone 5 sold 5 million units in just 2 days, which raises the competition level even more between the two companies.

    Samsung Galaxy Note II has been one of the first smartphones that came with a 5.6-inch screen and became popular as one of the best "phablets" (phone and tablet) in the market. Although some were cautious about its sales due to its relatively large screen, which might have been uncomfortable in holding it, the numbers show that people like having a smartphone with a big screen. Even iPhone 5 slightly expanded its screen, which proves that the new trend is turning into phablet, instead of a simple smartphone.

    Samsung must feel really proud about their recent sales, since they topped the smartphone market in the third quarter between July and September, reaching the 56.3 sales. Now that we are approaching the Christmas holiday Samsung knows very well the importance of performing well in the last quarter of the year and all the bets are placed on Galaxy Note II, along with Galaxy S III. However, with iPhone 5 on the market, who will make the ultimate win of the year, topping the fourth quarter's sales? We just have to wait and see.

  • Xiaomi 2 Launched in China

    Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is launching its new smartphone Xiaomi 2 today. The Chinese say that the gadget will compete with Samsung Galaxy S3, the new iPhone 5 and HTC One X+, the price being expected to be the main argument for this statement.

    In a first phase only 50,000 phones are on sale and then another 250,000 units in the second half of November.

    Officially announced in August, the phone comes with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 2 GB RAM. The screen is a 4.3-inch IPS LCD at 720p resolution and a density of 342ppi.

    The smartphone has two cameras, an 8-megapixel one that uses the same lens as the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S III, and a second one of 2 megapixels for video conferencing. Xiaomi 2 provides the user with a storage capacity of 16GB or 32GB, expandable, of course, using an SD card.

    In terms of connectivity, the phone features 42Mbps HSPA+ radio and supports WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHz.

    Xiaomi 2 comes with two versions of batteries: 2000mAh and 3000mAh.

    Xiaomi Phone 2 runs Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, along with the MIUI Rom package of applications developed by the Chinese manufacturer.

    The phone is available in the Chinese market at a price of 1,999 Yuan ($320) for the 16 GB version and 2,299 Yuan ($370) for the one with 32GB storage capacity.

    Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi did not announce when or if it will begin selling the new smartphone worldwide.

  • Sample Attendee list just announced for NFC Payments – PayPal, Raley’s, Best Buy, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Verizon, T-Mobile and more to meet

    Press Release

    M for Mobile have released the latest sample of the biggest industry experts to attend this year’s NFC Payments USA (Oct 29-30, Boston) event, taking place in just 2 weeks’ time.

    NFC’s most exciting event yet will reveal a stark comparison and in-depth analysis on NFC as a payments technology, compared with its peer competing payment technologies. 

    It also offers a valuable financial perspective through the high caliber of speakers who will lead the exceptional networking opportunity in Boston on the 29th and 30th of this month, including PayPal, Best Buy, Raley’s, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Bank of America, Citi, Barclaycard, Capital One and many more.

    Identify your future partner here.

    With NFC still topping the charts as the next big thing in mobile payments, this year’s conference is bursting with new ideas including an in-depth comparison and evaluation of NFC Payments technology versus all other forms of mobile payment technologies to measure and plan your future NFC strategy, a financial perspective on NFC including the most effective business models to apply and how to reach the fastest ROI for your organization and the opportunity to network with executives from across the entire NFC ecosystem to form those profitable partnerships for 2013.

    Have a look at the attendees already signed up here.

    Contact [email protected] to see what available discounts are left – make sure you secure your place before.

  • FBI Warns Android Users of Malware Risk

    The news arrived from the FBI via the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) division, warn the owners of Android smartphones about the appearance of new malware targeting this category of devices.

    According to IC3 – the organization responsible for investigating allegations of criminal activities in the online environment, "Loozon" and "FinFisher" are the latest known versions of these forms of malware, each with a slightly different operation mode.

    One of the strategies used to attract victims involves displaying a message that the phone owner is lured with job offers that involves working from home, at a substantial salary and offered in exchange for sending emails. The message contains a link that leads to a website infected with Loozon, the user being instructed to click on the link for more information about the job offer. Once infection has occurred, the malicious app extracts all the information stored in the address book along with the infected phone number.

    FinFisher is a form of spyware that can take control over certain parts of the mobile phone, so that once infection is produced, the device can be controlled and monitored remotely, regardless of the location of the victim. Infection with FinFisher malware can occur when the user accesses using the Web browser a website or an infected link, or opens a text message disguised as an Android update.

    IC3 provides some recommendations for protecting mobile phones, such as turning on the encryption feature in order to protect personal data in case of loss or theft, installing antivirus software for the smartphone, creating an access password and avoiding using untrusted public wireless networks.

  • Samsung Galaxy S III Mini Officially Announced

    Samsung announced the Galaxy S III Mini in an event in Germany, in an effort to satisfy the customers that complained about the size of Galaxy S III. Galaxy S III has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, supports NFC, but lacks 4G LTE. It also has a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 1GB RAM and a 5MP rear camera.

    According to JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics:

    “The GALAXY S III introduced a new concept of smartphone that has proven hugely popular around the world.
    We’re now delighted to bring its revolutionary design, intuitive usability and intelligence to the GALAXY S III mini in a more compact form,”     and he adds “We continue to make every effort to provide extraordinary mobile experiences to meet a wide variety of user needs.”

    Samsung also mentions in a press release that Galaxy S III mini is "stylish and compact" and it is "packed with intelligent technology designed to make interacting with the phone incredibly natural and intuitive"

    "The GALAXY S III mini also understands your gestures to make using your phone easier and more natural: With Smart Stay, the phone’s camera tracks your eyes and keeps the screen lit as long as you are looking at it. When reading a text message from a friend, Direct Call enables you to automatically dial a call simply by lifting the phone to your ear; and Smart Alert conveniently alerts you to missed calls or messages as soon as you pick up your phone."

    Its price is expected around 550$, without contracts, and its release date is set on October 29th.

    Will it manage to become as popular as its older brother Galaxy S III though?

  • iPhone 5 demand creates problems in supply

    Two weeks after the release of the iPhone 5 in various countries, there are still complaints about the big waiting list that some are facing, in order to get the hyped iPhone 5. As it seems, the demand was more than what the production expected, which created several problems, especially with the online orders. The shipping estimate might reach three to four weeks for the new orders, while some Apple stores are not able to meet the demands of the customers.

    Although this might worry the Apple fans that haven't purchased iPhone 5 yet, but we can reassure them that the problem will be resolved soon. Apple knows very well that they need to have a great supply of iPhones for the holiday season, which makes them produce even more handsets now, in order to be prepared. iPhone 5 is expected to be the most profitable iPhone of all time and Apple wouldn't allow limited availability for a longer period.

    Moreover, there were stories around the web that Foxconn factory in China went on strike, with complaints about the working conditions in the production of the iPhone 5. It was reported that the workers were on strike, due to the excessive demands on the quality control of the iPhone 5 and the endless working hours, even on national holidays. Foxconn sent a statement to Reuters, mentioning that there was not a strike in any factory and that "there has been no workplace stoppage in that facility or any other Foxconn facility and production has continued on schedule." As for the allegations about working on a national holiday, Foxconn added that the workers that chose to do so, were paid three times their wage. And just like that, another false alarm for Apple that could possibly affect the sales of the iPhone 5 goes off.

    As for the limited supply, as we said, the issue is expected to be resolved soon, if Apple really wants to boast about the most profitable iPhone of all time.

  • Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8 event

    The following month will be very important for Microsoft, since they are about to launch the highly anticipated Windows 8. Along with Windows 8, we are also expecting the Windows Phone 8 handsets, which are also expected to increase Microsoft's share in the mobile market.

    Microsoft is having an event on October 29 in San Francisco, inviting the journalists to "meet Windows Phone 8". As it seems, Microsoft is about to announce the release of the brand new Windows 8 handsets and reveal all the details that are related to them. From what we already know about Windows Phone 8, it will be compatible with all the Windows 8 devices, being an extension of Windows 8. What's more, Windows Phone 8 will have a customizable start screen, but it will also feature the NFC technology.

    As for the phones, there will be handsets from HTC, Samsung, Huawei and Nokia, with the latter being the big advocate of Windows Phones lately. There is also a rumor that Microsoft will create a Surface device with Windows Phone 8, but there isn't a confirmation yet, which means that we have to be patient for it.

    What we know for sure, is that Microsoft has high expectations on the big release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, hoping to boost their income during the highly profitable holiday period. Although we have already reported the disappointment of the Windows Phone 7 owners, Microsoft is aware of the big competition in the mobile industry and they can only have a share with ambitious projects. And Windows Phone 8 is definitely one of them.

    More details about Windows Phone 8 at the end of the month then.

  • Focus your Mobile Payments business plan on the most lucrative areas

    In conjunction with Mobile Payments Latin America (Dec 5-6, Miami), M for Mobile have released the latest most comprehensive White paper on Mobile Payments in Latin America. The White paper offers you expert insight into the most lucrative areas on mobile payments in Latin America in order to make sure your business plan is on trend and ahead of the game.

    Due to the rapid uptake and developments within mobile payments sector, the biggest and most forward-thinking companies are capitalizing on the industry's critical growth phase.  Through a bespoke survey conducted on just under 100 senior level Latin American industry experts, the exclusive 14 page White paper covers the main areas including Regulation, by assessing legal clarity and the rules for your organization.  It discusses security and how to create trust and confidence for the consumer, as well as value-proposition and the commercial value of establishing common goals when marketing your product.  Interoperability is also analysed and the technical advances to overcome this, as well as mass adoption and the operational strategy when building successful relationships throughout the ecosystem.

    You will also gain insight into which mobile payment technologies you should adopt (SMS, Direct Carrier Billing, Cloud-Based, EMV chip, NFC, Bluetooth) and insight in to the competing technologies you are up against, time frames for mass adoption and Case Studies on mobile payment initiatives to knowledge from and use in your organization’s strategy.

    Click here to view the 14 page exclusive white paper on Mobile Payments Latin America.